Reverse flow countercurrent condenser



Aug. 29, 1950 A. w. BAUMANN REVERSE FLOW COUNTERCURRENT CONDENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 8, 1948 Aug. 29, 1950 A. w. BAUMANN REVERSE FLOW COUNTERCURRENT CONDENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWW Filed Oct. 8, 1948 v. INA

F I I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I (2. I I I I I I I I I n I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 l I n I I n I I I I I n I I I I u 1 I I I I I I I r I I I l I I I I Patented Aug. 29, 1950 REVERSE FLOW GOND coo vrjiiacoiiimw'r ENSER Arnold Werner Baumann, Chicago, Ill; Application October's, 1948, Seria1No..53,388

3 Claims (Cl. 261*114) This invention. reiaies' to condensing. appe rains, and more particularly to Such. apparatus of. the reverse now oounter-eurr'eniitype, oi such construction as so eliminate the need for exam head room above the condenser and at the same time provide a ond'rise'f of improved constructiori and positive and eiiieient' operation.

"Incouiiter-current condensers: known and in viseprior is the present invention there has been provided a vapor: inlet near the bottom of the condenserso fiiai; iii-e vapor and non-eonderxsable gases now upwardly toward an outlet near the top while the water flows in counter-cu rentwi'th relation thereto. With thisprior con ventlonai design the greater portion of the com denser lies abov the vapor inlet which maks it necessarythat tii ceiling of the operating room he very high in order to house the con denser, or to build a oupola overthe condenser itself, which adds materially to the (20st, of the staining for housing the condensere in the present invention, I have' overcomethese disadvantages by providing an improved eonstmetion of condenser in which the vapor inletelbow passes-downwardly through the top of condenser shell, and the inlet; vapors are dominated through an inlet tube extending downwardly through the center of the condenser and are released nearthe bottom of the condenser where they reverse their flow and intersectwater curtains and pass upwardly through an improved arrangement of parts, the air and non-cond ensable gases passing out of th condenser at the top. This eliminates fihe requirement for extra head room above the vapor ina condenser of the type referred to', in which the incoming vapors are conducted' downwardly through the' center of the condenser and released near the bottom thereof where they will reverse their flow and pass upwardly through a novel arrangement of water curtains and condenser parts- 1 A flint-her object is to provide an improved weir construction within the condense-r shell and spaced from the inlet vapor tube at a substan distance above the bottom end of the inlet mil 2- tube 50 as to produces thin water e'urtain pass iiig downwardly through an annular" space 136* lihifile't tube and the well s'llppftifi W8;

A stiiif'urtlier object is to provide a deflecting flange extending radially outwardly from the. in: Iet tube n ar the bottom end thereof; against which flange the water curtain from the weir? strikes" and from which it is deflected outward-1v and. tails downwardly to form a fiiifihef thin water curtain, the incoming vapors passing first through this furthr curtain, then upwardly and inwardly through tli curtain from the weir" and up through the annular space between the inleii' vapor tubs and the weir supporting wall and thence up through the air and non-condensable gases outlet- Another object is to provide novel heatiinsulating' means aroundthe inlet. vapor tube iii the space above the weir so that the non-condens'abl' gases'andair' will not be-heated by the hot in let vapor tube.

Further" objects, advantages and: capabilities inherensly possessed by my inventi0n,-. will later more fully appear.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment: in the accompanying drawings in Which- Fig. l is a side elevation of a condenser ermbodyiiig' the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. l.

'3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the condenser taken on a median plane;

In the mbodimnfi illustrated, the condenser comprises an outer metal shell I having a bottom wall 2 and atop wall 3. The bottom wall 2' is preferably conical and connects as its central open bottom end with a water outlet pipe 4 for discharge of the condensing water and condensate. immediately above th top w'ali 3 is a vapor inlet elbow 5- l'iaving a laterall extending tube-,6 adapted to be Connected to a vapor inlet supply of steam boiled off from milk in a milkcoiidensing" process. Connected with elbow 5 is an inlet tube passin through the Central. poi;- tidll of the top 3 and extending downwardly through the center of the interior of the outer shell I to a level above the" shll bottom 2 a de sired-distance. V

Welded or otherwise fixed to the bottom end portion of inlet tube 1 and slightly above tl i' free open end thereof, is a radially extending flange 8 which is preferably of circular perimeter-l As will be noted in Fig. 3 the marginal edge of annular weir.

downwardly at In toprovide an overhanging end' I I to downwardly direct the water flowing therethrough so as to promote a smooth level at the top of the body of water a. just before it flows over the weir. Secured to the outer end of the pipe connection 9 is a flange I2 having formed therein a circularly arranged series of holes I 3 to receive bolts, rivets or the like from a similar flange on the adjacent end of a water supply pipe (not shown). A similar couplingflange I4 is connected to the outer end of inlet tube 6 and having a series of circularly arranged openings I5 to facilitate connection of the elbow 5 witha tube from the milk condensing apparatus (not shown), Tube 6 is preferably slightly inclined downwardly toward the tube I so as to facilitate the flow thereto of. any condensate that may collect on the walls of tube 6.

- Fixed by welding or otherwise as desired tothe inner surface of shell I in a plane slightly below the bottom of the inlet pipe connection 9 is an annular flange IE having fixed to its inner edge anupstanding cylindrical wall I? which at its upper, edge is. formed with an inwardly ex-. tending radial narrow flange I8 constituting an As seen in Fig. 3 th inner edge of the weir flange I8 is approximately midway of the radial distance between inlet tube I and studs' or the like 22 and spaced outwardly a dis tance from the inlet tube is a cylindrical steel jacket 23. The space between jacket 23 and inlet tube I is filled with any suitable he'at'insulatingi material 24 so that the non-condensable gases and air will not be heated'by the hot internal vapor tube I. y

The condenser of the present invention preferably operates under a vacuum of about 26 /2 inches of mercury. in the operation of this condenser condensing water is introducedthrough the inlet pipe 9 into the annular space above the flange I6 and between the Weir vertical/wall I! and the shell I. This wateras indicated at in Fig. 3 accumulates to the level of the top surface of weir flange 98 and slightly higher. sufficient to cause such water to flow downwardly in the form of a cylindrical curtain 26. This water curtain will preferably be thin with the water being broken up as it falls and accompanied by more or less spray from the falling water. This curtain of water falls upon the bot: tom flange 8 where it is deflected laterally outwardly from said flange and then downwardly to form a second thin cylindrical water curtain 21 in which the stream of water is also more or less broken up and accompanied by a greater or less amount 'of' spray from the falling water drops. The incoming vapors pass downwardlythrough tube I through the open bottom end thereof and then laterally as shown by the arrows in Fig. 3 and intersect and pass through the water curtain 21 and spray accompanying the same. Some of the condensable portions of the incoming vapors are condensed by the water from curtain 21 and the cooler temperature within the shell.

After passing through curtain 21 the uncondensed portions ofthe vapors pass upwardly and then inwardly through water curtain "-26 where a further amount of the condensable portions of the incoming vapors is condensed, the condensate mixing with the condensing water and flowing downwardly and out therewith through the outlet pipe 4.

After passing inwardly through curtain 29 the uncondensed portions of the vapors continue upwardly through the annular space 28 between the water curtain Z6 and the inlet tube I, some of these vapors being further contacted by the falling water or -curtain 26. After passing upwardly beyond the weir I8 the uncondensed pore;

tions of the vapors flow around-the outsideof the insulating jacket 23' and. out through the air and non-condensable gases outlet pipeIS,

As will be understood the amount of waterv flowing inwardly through the water inlet pipe; connection 9-will be regulated to producewater curtains of the intensity desired. {The coolness; of this water will be controlled as-desiredQ-As will be seen in Fig. 3 when the water from cur; tain 2! reaches the bottom wall member 2 of-the condenser it will be deflected inwardly and down;

wardly into the outlet piped. this out-flowing condensing water carrying with it such amount of condensate as will have been picked up thereby during travel of the incoming vapors through the: condenser. It will thus be seen that I have provided a reverse flow counter-current condenser requiring no extra head room above -the-vapor; inlet elbow thus reducing i'buildin'g. alterationcosts or the cost of a new building for housing such condensers.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unneces-I' sary limitations should be understoodftherefrom; for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art. I

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A reverse'flow counter-current condenser for eliminating the need for extra head room, cqm: prising, a vertical cylindrical shell having side walls, a top end wall and a bottom end wall, a vapor. inlet tube passing through "mew-m5 end wall and extendingconcentifically downwardly inthe shell and l'iavi'n an op'edbottom' end spaced upwardly away from said bottomejnd wall, the diameter of the downwardly extending Vapor inlet tube being substantially less than the diameter of the shell to provide a 'siibstantial annular space therebetween, a radially and out-' wardly extendingflange fixed to the vaporinlet tube adjacent its bottom open end and offsmallef diameter than the shell to'leav'e a 'spao'e'b'e'twen the perimeter of the flangeand'the shell, 9, weir member flxed'to the shell and'having 'a-bottom and an upstanding wall encircling the repairs let tube but spaced a substantial distance ra dially away therefrom and located approximately mid-way of the vertical' portion' of the vapor in-' let tube, the upper edge of said upstanding-wall having a narrow annular flange extending a short distance radially toward the vapor inlet" tubebut having its inner-edge spaced a substantial distance outwardly away from said vapor inlet tube to form a weir, a water inlet tube connected to an opening in the shell adjacent the bottom of the space behind said upstanding wall of the weir member, said shell having a noncondensable gases and air outlet opening in its upper end portion and a liquid outlet opening in its bottom end well, whereby water passing over said weir will form a curtain encircling the vapor inlet tube but spaced therefrom, which strikes said flange adjacent the bottom end of the vapor inlet tube and passes outwardly and downwardly over the perimeter of this flange to form a second annular curtain, and incoming vapors Will pass upwardly from the open bottom end of the vapor tube first outwardly through the second curtain and then at higher elevations inwardly through the first mentioned curtain and out through the non-condensable gases and air outlet opening.

2. A condenser as claimed in claim 1, in which the inner open end of the water inlet tube is inclined outwardly and downwardly to provide an overhanging end to downwardly direct the water flowing therethrough so as to promote a smooth level at the top of the body of water behind said weir member just before it flows over the weir.

3. A condenser as claimed in claim 1, in which the vapor inlet tube above said weir has fixed to its outer surface a heat insulating jacket so that the outgoing non-condensable gases and air will not be heated by the incoming hot vapors in the vapor inlet tube.

ARNOLD WERNER BAUMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

